Liquidity planning

The category-based liquidity preview helps to identify financing needs and liquidity surpluses at an early stage, to analyse the origin and to take appropriate measures in time. The sooner a financing gap is identified, the more time one has to negotiate with possible lenders about the modalities of bridging financing and to select the best offer. Perhaps it is even possible to obtain internal financing with one's own funds, which would alternatively not generate any particular return when invested with banks?

Of course, planning is only good if all the necessary information is available in time, correctly and completely. This sounds obvious, but in reality it is rarely the case. Cash flows from financial transactions recorded in Trinity TMS (interest and currency transactions, guarantee commissions) are directly reflected in the planning due to the complete integration of the Trinity TMS modules, without the need for re-entry. Further data from various sources worldwide can be imported automatically. A specific “shift function” can be used to assign amounts to different categories according to individually defined rules, to distribute them over time or to process them in another way if a 1:1 import is not expedient.

„With Trinity, we have a highly reliable private cloud-based treasury management system in use worldwide that ensures full transparency in current liquidity status, short-term cash management and long-term liquidity planning.“

Veronika Fichtner, Head of Corporate Finance & Treasury, LEDVANCE GmbH

Plan structures

All plans can be individually structured, saved and edited for different purposes. Drill-down functions offers a look at the origin of the data, pivot analyses allow multi-dimensional flexible evaluations and views.

Deviation analysis

The actual data-classification function assigns turnover information from electronic account statements to the appropriate planning categories, so that plans previously filled with planning data can be filled with actual data and compared with the previously saved target plans. By analysing the deviations, the planning quality can be continuously improved and thus more precise planning can be carried out. Risk buffers due to planning inaccuracies can be significantly reduced, depending on the corporation’s industry.

Simulation and scenarios

If, on the other hand, surprises are always to be expected, it makes sense to simulate different scenarios in advance. For this purpose, any number of plan variants can be created and saved in Trinity TMS in order to simulate and analyse the impact of different influencing factors on the future liquidity development of the company.

Liquidity planning in Trinity TMS also helps to optimise foreign exchange exposure management and to reconcile current hedging transactions with specified hedging ratios of the corporate guidelines. Currency-differentiated planning allows an easy translation of all cash flows and balances in into the Group currency at market, planned or budget rates for different types of evaluation.

Trinity TMS functions at a glance

Individual plan categories and plan structures that fit the company
Currency differentiated: Recording in original currencies, automatic translation into group currency
Freely selectable time horizons
Flexible time grid (daily to yearly)
Central and local planning
Multiple consolidation levels
Rolling planning
Geographical, divisional, project-based views
Exposure management based on market data
Monitoring of hedge ratio requirements
Merge of all cash flows in one system
Immediate reflection of cash flows from recorded financial deals
Automated import of planning data from any source
Filter options for individual considerations
Inclusion of credit lines, trapped cash, minimum balance requirements
Simulation options for scenario consideration
Deviation analyses “plan/simulation” or “target/actual” comparisons
Export to EXCEL

Benefits

Maximum transparency and risk reduction

Maximum decision-making reliability: all decision-relevant information up-to-date in one system.
Early detection of surpluses and deficits gives room for timely action to secure the company's liquidity efficiently.
Simulations and scenarios help to assess the impact of volatile influencing factors in advance.

„The clearly structured and always up-to-date overview of the group's global foreign currency risk lets our management (and me) sleep better than before“

Holger Schulz, Head of Treasury, TMD Friction Holdings GmbH

Time and cost savings

Automated processes continuously provide a reliable basis for decision-making.
Yield optimisation:

- Internal financing potentials can be discovered and utilised prior to talks with external lenders;
- financing for bridging purposes or temporary liquidity surpluses can be agreed at optimal interest rates.

Revision security:

The origin of a cash flow can be traced at any time using the drill-down function and audit trails.

Best Practice/Blogs

As planning and securing liquidity is the most important task of a company's finance department, Trinity has published a number of blog posts on best practice in this area, e.g.:

Currency-differentiated liquidity planning

Bottom-up or top-down?

Cloud-based liquidity planning